New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-16
MINOR POETRY.
GOOD. BAD AND INDIFFERENT.
COLONIAL BALLADS. sOyNETs AND OTHER VER

II. Kerr & Co.
BRANCH cF MAY. By LizffTE %4nn"oii" 'tN''
pp ~. Baltimore Cushinss q Bailey.
THE POEMS OF GTACOMO IEOPARDl Translated
by FREDERICK TowSsi-SD Up. LIZ '" l. iu'"""
Sons. c,..,
SOCIETY VERSE BY AMERICAN WRITERS. Selected ,s
by ERNEST Dr L,ScY PERSON lomo' PIP NO.
Benjamin & Bell - ,,,s
Illustrated by BOZ" l2mo, Pr. 49, Harper
Brothers. ,,, ,nvoc,rr
KISs: New-York.
SONGS OF HISTORY. BY HEzEKm BuTr PmNI,sSns
I9mo pp 1873. Boston: New-EnSiahu Tuoh'"inS
Company .o,.,,, 10 c.,o-
THE UNSEEN KING AND OTHER P0EMS by N T,M1,
LINE LESTER FIELD l6mo' PIP 'o "'''
HALO MY FANCY, BY CHARLES IiENEI LT n,yIS
and :. d. s., jr. l6mo' PIP 10 rn''"'''p''"'
Mckay.
,,.,...o, prc.to, has good ear for rhythm and
,,racofrI fancy Her verse is epica and she writes
nirited ballads with the skill which Stimulates spo"
,ar.tv The mems in this volume which Will most
nIeasc the general reader are OF TINS k'hu' ii'i
cIonial ballads illustrate various episones III 'n'
early perod of American history the picturesque
ness of which doubtless owes not Il Ht'ic " ITO gu
faulty. There are, however, morc S'i''
The author has Experimental inuch wiz" Wv
! sonnet and has produced some meiitoi'o"' '
in that measure. But storytelling III Neieo 10 "'
forte and there she wins the most uoo," ~
ce,ses Not that any of her verso 10 ren'iS
II ia all the product Of "A cultivated IMAGINATION
and refined intelligence. and II IL '''pS no' ., ,na
the first rank it deserves prominent place III 'n0
second.
,rho mama NJ Alice williams Brotherton, 10
which King Olaf" gives the title' are 'ai', any,
interesting. The majority arc narrative an" 10
orue poems and these display considerapio ~ 'p"'u
| mower and sen of harm ony. Wheh tno 'u'y.o'
lies ready at hand the poet deals Win u
I'm in what may more correctly be styled Inc
original verses there is certain th'nh's'o'
rbich tbough not peculiar to this author. is TOO
familiar n mari, of the minor poetry of the day
70 escape notice. The poems, long and Snort are
usually rlymcd neatly. In many thcrc Il So"''
notbos In none of them is there the deep rest
,ose oucstioninc split which Is the surcSt evl-
dance Of the true poetic genius. The kind o'
verse which Mrs Brotherton writes Is sihoo'h'
often graceful not seldom interesting; but AFTER
ali il IS the poetry of mcdiocrlty.
II * rather odd but the idea OF jealous
woman mcditating the use Of POISON 10 remove Il
favored rival occurred 10 Mrs. Brothcrion ana 10
Ii,ct,a Woolworth Reese and before either OF
them BEGAN to write. to Robert bro"HhS'
| Whether if the latter had not employed the SUP
icct these ladies would have thought OF H. Is OF
course an insoluil, mystery. Perhaps inc ho""n
Of getting rid Of rival Is what Dr carpenter
would have called liked lica WIN "'"''
women though latent in the minds of most
The verses OF Mrs. or Miss Reese are not III
polished. They show strong feeling for natural
Loau,ics and a mill tendency toward that amative
vein which touches upon what my love and
would could might or should have done or
soid or thought or felt There very large stock
| i'm y
Perhaps it is hardly worth while TO add TO IL
causelcssly
| 4 Translation Of the rocms OF Giacmo Leopardi
| has been made by the late Frederick thompson,
and !, i "A worl, TO lc welcomed, though con-
sidcrinc the temperament Of the Italian, not
| iovouslv 4 more unhappy, biasscd. jaundlced soul
| than Lcopardi's never was lncarnated, probably.
| Poor james Thomson. who wrote the Guy oil
| Dreadful Night WAS the only modern to whom
| he can be compared. lie lived n short HE OF
| almost unr, cvcd gloom and misery. Cursed win
a dcformcd and sickly frame which made cX-
istcncc a ccasclcss torment, douhF cursed by
s,jrit so sensitive that it fairly withcrcd under
crosses ordinary men would have thought nothing
Of. IL was inevitable thnt having genius he should
cxprcss il pcssimistically. His poems even when
filtered by translation, are anything but cheer
fuI lie found All barren from Dan TO Becrshcba.
lie could not gaze at the moon WITHOUT
| sreculating upon her misery in toillng over
one monotonous round 10 allctcrrity. His utcrnncc
is continual cry of pain; n protest against lie.
| Assurcdly for him it not worth living. and
there can be no doubt that he welcomed the end
more sincerely than anything in the career. For
all this his poems deserve 10 be read. and the
present translation is faithful enough TO convey
| their meaning fully.
| Mr. Pierson explains in predatory ncte 10
| his Society Verse" that he has only attempted
in this collection 20 present the best productions
Of tie younger school OF poets and poetcsscs,
whose work still possesses tie charm Of novelty.
and is worthy OF being preserved" While many
Of the verses arc taken from various periodical
"a number Of excellent pieces Says Mr.. Picrson)
are here published for the first tlme.' Forty.
three authors are represented in the volume, and
the selection appears TO have been made in the
main with discrimination. OF course there Will
always be disagrcemcnts as to what should and
should not be included IN such volume, but
taking into consideration the modest character
OF the venture, il would perhaps have been diff
cult to bring together much farcr more
truly representative gathering OF small poctk
| The author of "Yawcob Strauss" has published
another little volume of the same kind of dialect
verse; much of it dealing with the further advent
ures of "Yawcob," or employing him as the
medium whereby some homcy moral ~ irculcatod.
| Mr.. Adams does not pretend to be poet lie is
n clever verscr, and his dialectf not as correct
that of Mr. Leland is quite faithful enough to the
Teuto- American way of talking to satisfy the
public and to produce the desired effect. Tho
verses are not all dialect, and those which rot
show that the author can DO elective and even
touching when no chooses, without the aid OF
broEen or bad English. Between ." Hans Brett
mann" and Yawcob Strauss" there is certainly a
great deal of difference, but each is good in its way
and the latter deserves general approval seeing how
he has helped not too merry world to some gen
uine and hearty laughter.
The second series of verses from The Harvard